Rack structure for dishwasher



1967 R. c. PRESSLEY, JR 33 3 BACK STRUCTURE FOR DISHWASHER Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2 sheets-sheet 1 i i 6. I INVENTOR.

ROBERT C. PRESSLEV 3R.

Hus ATTORNEY Feb. 14, 1967 R. c. PRESSLEY, JR 3,303,934

RACK STRUCTURE FOR DISHWASHER Filed Oct. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WYWU a: i

W m MM Wm 5D 6 N o mliligiillii INVENTOR. ROBERT c. PRESSLEV II'FZ.

His ATTORNEY United States Patent G 3,303,934 RACK STRUCTURE FOR DISHWASHER Robert C. Pressley, Jr., Anchorage, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 501,682 7 Claims. (Cl. 21141) This invention relates to a rack and more particularly to a rack especially suited for use in dishwashers so as to permit the loading of a substantial number of large and small articles such as dishes into a given space.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved ,rack which will support a large number of articles, such as dishes, of varying sizes.

It is another object of my invention to provide such a rack in which each article may be inserted in any part of the rack regardless of the articles size.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a rack in which the articles may be inserted in the rack in any order regardless of their relative sizes.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of my invention, there is provided a rack for articles, such as dishes, including a frame defining an article receiving space. The frame has a side member extending along the upper edge of each side of the space and an intermediate member extending across the space between the side members so as to divide the space into a pair of adjacent sub-spaces with one of the side members and the intermediate member forming upper article support bars for each of the sub-spaces.

Additional article support bars are positioned inwardly and downwardly of each of the side members and of each side of the intermediate member with the positioning of the additional bars being varied from side to side of each of the sub-spaces. Means are associated with each article support bar to provide dish receiving notches in alignment with corresponding notches of the other bars of the same sub-space. With this construction articles, such as dishes, of varying sizes may be inserted into the rack and each article will be supported in mating protrusion of a pair of the article support bars. Which pair of bars support any-particular article will depend upon the size of that article.

The subject matter which I regard as my invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of this specification. My invention, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a dishwasher incorporating my invention with some of the parts broken away to illustrate details; and

FIGURE 2 is a partial plan view of the improved rack of my invention as incorporated in the dishwasher of FIGURE 1.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown an automatic dishwasher 1. The dishwasher has a dish washing compartment 2 formed by tub walls 3 with a front opening 4 which may be closed by a door 5 hingedly mounted by appropriate hinges (not shown) which extend through openings 6 in the front edges of walls 3. The bottom of compartment 2 may be formed by a generally downwardly sloping wall 7 which forms a sump 8 at the center thereof.

Within compartment 2 there may be provided a number of dish supporting members such as upper rack 9 and lower rack 10, which are designed so as to support dishes and other eating and cooking articles. Dishwasher 1 incorporates suitable washing means which, in this case, is embodied in the rotatable water ejecting member 11 positioned below rack 10 and provided with a number of openings. Member 11 forms part of a pump-motor assembly 12 which includes a motor 13. Motor 13 may, for instance, operate a pumping assembly 14 which receives its water through an inlet 14a positioned at the very bottom of sump 8. The motor may be of the type which, when rotated in one direction, causes the pumping assembly to force liquid up through member 11 and which, when reversed, causes the pumping assembly to pass the liquid out through a conduit (not shown) to a conventional household drain. It will be understood, that with such a structure, a complete washing operation readily may be provided by means of a conventional sequence control assembly and water inlet mechanism (not shown). Such a control assembly provides in suitable sequence for an appropriate number of cycles the entry of water and washing materials, the spraying of the dishes, and the removal of the water.

The lower rack 14), shown in FIGURES l and 2, incorporates my invention and is formed as a frame structure defining a dish receiving space 15. The frame includes a pair of longitudinally extending, generally parallel frame side members 16 and 17 which extend along the upper edge of each side of the article receiving space. Each end of the frame side members is connected to a generally vertical frame corner member such as those indicated at 18 and 19. Thus the frame side members and frame corner members form a pair of oppositely disposed, elongated U-shaped members each of which may, if desired, be formed from a single rod bent into an appropriate shape. The lower end of each of the corner members may be provided with rollers such as those shown at 26 to facilitate removal of the rack from the dishwasher by rolling along cooperating edges 21 provided in the tub walls 3. A frame end member 22 ex tends along the lower edge of each end of the article receiving space and is connected to the cooperating corner members 18 and 19.

A frame intermediate member 23 extends across the article receiving space generally parallel to the side members 16 and 17 so as to divide the article receiving space into a pair of adjacent sub-spaces 15a and 151). Each end of the intermediate member is supported on an end member 22 by means of a vertical member 24 which is connected to the end member and the intermediate member.

Side member 16 and intermediate member 23 form upper article support bars for sub-space 15a while side member 17 and the intermediate member form upper article support bars for sub-space 15]). Frame support members 25 are attached to the corner members adjacent their attachment to the side members, extend diagonally across the ends of the sub-spaces, and are attached at their other ends to the end members 22 at the point Where vertical members 24 intersect the end members 22. These support members lend additional strength to the frame so that the side members 16 and 17 do not separate.

An elongated, U-shaped, first additional article support bar 26 extends through each of the article receiving subspaces below the frame support members and has its distal end portions connected to the end members adjacent the connection of corresponding corner members. The distal end portions of each bar 26 extend upwardly and inwardly partially across the ends of its sub-space so that the first additional article support bars are spaced downwardly and inwardly from the frame side members 16 and 17 a first increment.

A second additional article support bar 27 extends through each of the article receiving sub-spaces and is mounted on corresponding support members 25 in a position which is below the horizontal portion of the corresponding first additional article support bar and is also further into each article receiving sub-space than the horizontal portion of the corresponding first additional article support bar.

A third additional article support bar 28 extends through each of the article receiving sub-spaces and is supported by the frame end members in a position which is more toward the center of each article receiving subspace than the corresponding second additional article support bar 27.

A fourth additional article support bar 29 extends through each of the article receiving sub-spaces and is supported by the frame end members in a position which is more toward the center of each article receiving subspace than the corresponding third additional article support bar 28.

Thus, each of the first additional article support bars is spaced downwardly and inwardly from its corresponding upper article support bar, formed by the frame side members 16 and 17 respectively, into its sub-space a first increment; each of the second additional article support bars is spaced downwardly and inwardly from the upper article support bar, formed by intermediate member 23, into its sub-space a second increment, which is greater than the first increment; each of the third additional article support bars is spaced downwardly and inwardly into its sub-space a third increment, which is greater than the second increment; and each of the fourth additional article support bars is spaced downwardly and inwardly into its sub-space a fourth increment, which is greater than the third increment. In other words, the spacing of the additional article support bars varies from side to side of each of the sub-spaces. In the embodiment shown, the article support bars on one side of each sub-space define a curved plane which has a radius different than the curved plane defined by the article support bars on the other side of the same sub-space.

Referring now to FIGURE 2 in particular, it will be seen that each article support bar has attached thereto a generally saw-tooth shaped rod 30, The teeth of each rod 39 are in alignment with the teeth of each of the other rods in the same sub-space so as to provide each sub-space with a series of aligned article receiving and positioning notches 31.

WVith the rack shown dishes or other articles of various sizes may be supported in aligned relationship in each sub-space and each article will be restrained at three points around its periphery to prevent the articles from moving and coming into contact with each other. Larger size articles or dishes, such as that indicated at 32, will be supported by a side member such as 17 and the intermediate member 23, and will be restrained in one of the notches 31 associated with an additional bar 26. Articles small enough to move through this spacing, such as that shown at 33, will be supported by a first additional article support bar 26 and a cooperating second additional article support bar 27, and will be restrained in one of the notches 31 associated with a cooperating fourth additional support bar 29. Dishes, such as that shown at 34, which are small enough to fit through this spacing will be supported by one of the first additional article support bars 26 and a cooperating fourth additional article support bar 29, and will be restrained in a notch 31 associated with a cooperating third additional support bar 28. Even smaller dishes, such as that shown at 35, will be supported by one of the third additional support bars 28 and a cooperating fourth additional support bar 29, and will 'be restrained in one of the notches associated with a cooperating first additional support bar 26. While some articles may actually engage three support bars, this is not necessary. Many will rest on only two bars and will extend far enough into a notch associated with a third bar to be restrained from any appreciable rocking motion, which is all that is required to prevent the articles from coming into contact with each other.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have invented a new and improved rack which, by the provision of simple and economically provided elements, permits the stacking of a large number of dishes in a given area in any order regardless of the relative size of the dishes.

As shown, the intermediate member 23 is provided with a saw-tooth rod on each side so as to act as an article support bar for each of the article receiving sub-spaces. Gbviously, the intermediate member may be constructed as a pair of parallel rods which extend across the article receiving space in juxtaposition and are attached at each end to vertical members 24 so that each of these rods provides one of the upper article support rods for the corresponding article receiving sub-space.

The side members 16 and 17, with their cooperating corner members 18 and 19, and the intermediate member 23, with the cooperating vertical members 24, have been shown as separate members joined together by some suitable means such as welding and the first additional article support bars 26 have been shown as elongated U- shaped members. Such a particular construction is not necessary. For instance, all of these separate portions of the frame may be formed as U-shaped members in a manner similar to the first additional article support bars 26. On the other hand each of these may be formed as a number of individual pieces which are joined together in a manner similar to the form and connection of the side and corner members to provide the general configuration shown.

While I have described what, at present, is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein Without departing from the true spirit and scope of my invention. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover such changes and modifications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A rack for articles, such as dishes, including:

(a) a frame defining an article receiving space,

(b) said frame including a plurality of article support bars extending across said article receiving space in parallel relationship with each other,

(e) a pair of said bars being positioned adjacent opposite upper edges of said space with additional ones of said bars being positioned inwardly and downwardly of each of said bars in said pair, the positioning of said additional bars being varied from side to side of said space, and

(d) means associated with each of said bars forming article positioning notches in alignment with corresponding notches of the others of said bars.

2. A rack as defined in claim 1 wherein said frame divides said space into a pair of adjacent sub-spaces and said sub-spaces are provided with similar article support arrangements so that two rows of articles may be supported in said rack.

3. A rack as defined in claim 1 wherein a first additional bar is spaced inwardly and downwardly from one of said pair of bars, a second additional bar is spaced inwardly and downwardly from the other of said pair of bars an increment greater than the increment of said first additional bar, a third additional bar is spaced inwardly and downwardly from said one of said pair of bars an increment which is greater than the increment of said second additional bar and a fourth additional bar is space inwardly and downwardly from said other of said pair of bars an increment which is greater than the increment of said third additional bar.

4. A rack as defined in claim 1 wherein the bars on each side of said space define a curved plane having a radius different than the radius of the arc defined by the bars on the other side of said space.

5. A rack for articles, such as dishes, including:

(a) a frame defining an article receiving space,

(b) said frame including a side member extending along the upper edge of each side of said space, said side members being parallel, and an intermediate member, parallel to said side members, extending across said space between said side members to divide said space into a pair of adjacent sub-spaces;

(c) one of said side members and said intermediate member forming upper article support bars for each of said sub-spaces;

((1) additional article support bars being positioned inwardly and downwardly of each of said side members and of each side of said intermediate member, the positioning of said additional bars being varied from side to said of each of said sub-space; and,

(e) means associated with each of said bars forming article positioning notches in alignment with corresponding notches of the others of said bars.

6. A rack as set forth in claim 5 including a first additional bar spaced inwardly and downwardly a first increment from one of said pair of upper support bars of each sub-space; a second additional bar spaced inwardly and downwardly a second increment from the other of said pair of upper support bars of each sub-space, said second increment being greater than said first increment; a third additional bar spaced inwardly and downwardly a third increment from said one of said pair of upper support bars of each sub-space, said third increment being greater than said second increment; and a fourth additional bar spaced inwardly and downwardly a fourth increment from said other one of said pair of upper support bars of each sub-space, said fourth increment being greater than said third increment.

7. A rack for articles, such as dishes, including:

(a) a frame defining an article receiving space;

(b) a frame side member extending along the upper edge of each side of said space, said side members being parallel, and an intermediate member, parallel to said side members, extending across said space between said side members to divide said space into a pair of adjacent sub-spaces, said side members and said inter-mediate member forming upper article support bars for each of said sub-spaces;

( c) a frame end member extending across the lower 2,624,356 2,692,790 10/1954 Tharrington 21141 X 1,237,010 2,433,823 12/1947 Lindeblad.

edge of each end of said space, said end members being parallel;

(d) a frame support member extending from each end of one upper edge of each sub-space to the corresponding end of the opposite lower edge of each subspace, the support members of each sub-space being parallel;

(e) a first additional article support bar extending through each of said sub-spaces between said end members and support members of its sub-space, a second additional article support bar extending through each of said sub-spaces between cooperating support members at a position below the corresponding first additional support bar, a third additional article support bar extending through each of said sub-spaces between said end members at a position more in- Wardly than the position of the corresponding second additional support bar, and a fourth additional support bar extending through each of said subspaces between said end members at a position more inwardly than the position of the corresponding third additional support bars, said additional support bars being parallel to said upper support bars; and,

(f) means associated with each of said bars forming article positioning notches in alignment with corresponding notches of the others of said bars of the same sub-space.

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1953 Rumbaugh 21141 X FOREIGN PATENTS 496,990 12/1938 Great Britain.

References Qited by the Applicant UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/ 1917 Adams.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

45 F. D G M OTOR, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A RACK FOR ARTICLES, SUCH AS DISHES, INCLUDING: (A) A FRAME DEFINING AN ARTICLE RECEIVING SPACE, (B) SAID FRAME INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF ARTICLE SUPPORT BARS EXTENDING ACROSS SAID ARTICLE RECEIVING SPACE IN PARALLEL RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH OTHER, (C) A PAIR OF SAID BARS BEING POSITIONED ADJACENT OPPOSITE UPPER EDGES OF SAID SPACE WITH ADDITIONAL ONES OF SAID BARS BEING POSITIONED INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY OF EACH OF SAID BARS IN SAID PAIR, THE POSITIONING OF SAID ADDITIONAL BARS BEING VARIED FROM SIDE TO SIDE SAID SPACE, AND (D) MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH OF SAID BARS FORMING ARTICLE POSITIONING NOTCHES IN ALIGNMENT WITH CORRESPONDING NOTCHES OF THE OTHERS OF SAID BARS. 